FAQs

Questions about our services

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What is a speech and language therapist?

Speech and language therapists are fully qualified professionals who assess, diagnose and treat speech, language, communication and swallowing problems. Speech and language therapists are trained to work with both children and adults and aim to maximise each individual’s potential to communicate. A speech and language therapist will work with the child, their family and other professionals to achieve the best possible care. Speech and language therapists work in a range of settings including, schools, homes, hospitals and clinics.

All of our speech and language therapists are fully qualified and are registered with the Health Care Professions Council (HCPC), and are members of the Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists (RCSLT).

Who benefits from speech and language therapy?

Speech and language therapy benefits anyone who has a speech, language, communication or swallowing difficulty. Speech and language therapy helps children and adults of all ages and abilities. Speech and language therapy can also provide education, training and support for families, friends and other professionals who are involved in the client’s care.

What do I do if i suspect my child has speech, voice, swallowing or communication difficulties?

If you are concerned about any aspect of your child’s speech, language, communication, voice, eating, drinking or swallowing abilities then do not hesitate to contact us for an initial appointment or a discussion over the phone where one of our team will be happy to help. You can also speak to the teaching staff to see if they also have any concerns if they attend school or nursery .

You can also speak directly to one of our speech and language therapists about your concerns and they can advise you on what steps to take next.

What can I expect from an assessment at SLT for Kids?

Speech and language therapy assessments vary according to the age, skills and difficulties each individual child is experiencing. Our speech and language therapist use a range of approaches to gather information including case histories, observations, informal and formal assessments. With very young children our speech and language therapists take a play based approach allowing children to feel at ease.

Each assessment lasts a minimum of 90 minutes in this time our speech and language therapists will speak to parents or carers about their concerns, gather information through a case history as well as assess the child's skills through an appropriate form of assessment. At the end of the assessment our speech and language therapists will be able to provide a short summary of their findings.

What types of conditions do you treat at speech and language therapy?

At SLT for Kids we can treat a variety of conditions which cause speech, language, communication and swallowing difficulties. Children may be born with a condition that affects their speech, language, communication or swallowing or they may acquire a condition later in their life. We have experienced therapists who can work with all types of conditions.

What can I expect from speech and language therapy treatment?

Treatment at SLT for Kids will offer a specialised service to help children with speech, language, communication and swallowing needs. Speech and language therapy treatment will start with an initial assessment. An initial assessment will help to identify if a child has a speech, language, communication or swallowing difficulty and also the severity of their difficulty. The speech and language therapist will then decide what the best method of treatment will be for that child. The type of treatment given will vary for each child and depend on their specific needs and abilities.

Find out more about the different services we offer at SLT for Kids for speech, language and communication.

Look further into what we offer for eating, drinking and swallowing difficulties.

What will treatment involve and how long will it last for?

The type of treatment given will depend on the specific needs and abilities of each child. Our speech and language therapists offer individualised treatment plans for each child, which will be tailored to their specific needs and abilities.

We have no set number of treatment sessions for our clients. An initial assessment will help us to determine what type of treatment to give and also the duration and number of sessions needed. Treatment is commonly once a week, however this may be more or less depending on the severity and type of speech, language, communication and swallowing difficulty.

Where will the therapy sessions take place?

At SLT for Kids we provide a service to suit the needs and requirements of each of our clients. Therapy sessions may take place in, clinic, home settings or education settings.

If our clients are unable to attend a clinic session, we are happy to make home visits where we can provide assessment and treatment in the child’s own home. We can also see children in the school setting.

All of our clinics are modern and spacious facilities with disabled access. Read more about our clinics.

Can I see an independent speech and language therapist at the same time as an NHS speech and language therapist?

Yes. The earlier a child is treated for a speech, language, communication or swallowing disorder, the better. It is well researched that early intervention is highly beneficial for individuals with speech, language and communication difficulties.

Due to longer waiting lists in the NHS, early intervention is sometimes not possible. At SLT for Kids we have no waiting list and can see children at a time and place to suit their needs and requirements. You can see a private speech and language therapist whilst on an NHS waiting list, or see us whilst also receiving NHS treatment.

Having private treatment will not affect your NHS entitlement in any way.

Who can make a referral for speech and language therapy, do I have to be a parent?

No, we can accept referrals from any source. Common referral sources include parents, teachers and referrals from case managers or solicitors. If a client wishes to claim off their medical insurance, this may need to be authorised by their GP.

How do I book an appointment?

I am a speech therapist and would like to work with SLT for Kids, how do I apply?

We are always looking for passionate and enthusiastic paediatric speech and language therapists to join our team. We are looking for therapists that want to make the most positive impact on everyone we work with and believe in holistic, evidence based practice to achieve this. All of our therapists must be excellent communicators, reliable and trustworthy.

If you believe you would fit into our team, do not hesitate to contact us. Find out more in careers.

Speech, language and communication

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My child does not have very good attention, can you help with this?

A child’s attention develops in stages and a child will learn to maintain and adapt their attention to different situations as they grow older into adulthood. Depending on the age of your child will depend upon our ability to help. If you have any concerns we can arrange an initial assessment where one of our speech therapists can find out if your child does have delayed attention. If so, we will be able to provide strategies for you to use at home or for teachers to use in school to help your child's attention skills. We can also provide one to one or group therapy for attention. Our speech and language therapists will also be able to identify if there are any underlying issues causing your child's attention difficulties.

How do I know if my child is stammering?

Most children up to 5 years of age will experience a period of normal dysfluency, this may appear as hesitation when talking, using ‘eerrr’ when thinking of a word or repeating the first sound of words when talking (usually when talking quickly). However, dysfluency becomes atypical when there is a high amount of dysfluent speech. Children may repeat sounds, prolong sounds or completely block the words. Dysfluency can become a serious issue for some children, particularly when they avoid talking because of it or develop secondary behaviours such as twitching or grimacing whilst stuttering.

If you have any concerns regarding your child's fluency, do not hesitate to contact us or read more about stammering here.

I am a teacher and some of my students do not understand my instructions, can you assess these children?

Depending on the age of the children you teach they may not have developed the ability to understand the words you are using in class. An initial appointment and assessment sessions can be organised through the school in order to discuss your concerns, find out more information and to assess the ability of these children. After assessment an appropriate individual or group treatment programme can be chosen in order to enhance the children's understanding. Advice and strategies can also b provided by our speech and language therapists in order to adapt your use of language in the classroom so that your students are able to understand you better.

I think my child has autism, can you help with this?

Our speech and language therapists are able to help provide reports for identification and diagnosis of autism, we also have a team of other professionals who can assist the identification of autism. Our therapists are able to help any of the communication difficulties that are caused by autism. We are also able to provide social communication groups for your child in order to develop their skills and meet others that are similar to them.

My child is not talking at all, at what age should they be verbal?

By the age of 6-12 months children should be able to use consonants and vowels to make babble sounds. Childrens recognisable verbal speech typically begins to develop after 1 year as they begin to use a few real words in context with support. This then rapidly begins to grow as typically by the age of 2, children should be able to use at least 100 words correctly.

My child is 3 and still says ‘tun’ for ‘sun’, is this normal?

This is a phonological process that is called ‘stopping’, this is a typical process in a child's development in which they swap the longer ‘sss’ sound for a shorter ‘t’. Stopping should begin to fade out of a child’s speech sound system at 2 years and should be fully eliminated by 3 years. As your child is only 3, they wouldn't require input from a speech and language therapist as the process may still be fading out of their system. However, if your child continues this process by the time they are 4, please contact us for an assessment and we will be able to help.

Eating, drinking and swallowing

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Can SLT for Kids feeding team help me reduce stress around mealtimes?

If your child cries around mealtimes, is uncomfortable when feeding or is difficult to feed our feeding team will be able to identify the cause of this problem. After the problem is identified our team can provide you with strategies to manage these problems and to reduce stress surrounding mealtimes. Our speech therapists can advise on specific swallowing techniques, our occupational therapists can provide specialist seating and equipment if required and can help advise strategies for posture whilst our dietician can advise on types of food or textures appropriate for your child.

If there is an underlying cause to the stress at mealtimes, our feeding team will be able to refer to an appropriate professional.

I am having difficulty with breastfeeding, how can your feeding team help?

Our feeding team have a highly qualified professional to help individuals who are experiencing difficulties with breastfeeding, including attachment issues, weaning and discomfort. Our team will assess and provide strategies and support for those individuals. We are also able to provide advice on alternative methods of breastfeeding.

My child keeps choking and coughing during mealtimes, should I contact you feeding team?

If your child continues to choke, gag or cough during mealtimes they may be eating or drinking an inappropriate texture food, this can be identified by one of our feeding team and advice can be given to prevent this.

However, if your child is gagging or coughing but is unable to cough up the substance they are choking on, this may be serious as they may be intaking substances into their lungs. This can cause pneumonia and have serious implications on your child's health and wellbeing. Get in contact with our feeding team for an immediate assessment.

Our feeding team can also identify and advise on any reflux diseases. If you are unsure on any of this or have any questions, please do not hesitate to call us on 0330 088 2298.

My child is not gaining any weight but is refusing to eat food, what can I do to help?

Some children may experience sensory difficulties with some food substances or textures. Our feeding team will be able to identify this cand can also advice on how to manage this. Our team will be able to advise on what foods can be given to your child in replacement so that they are receiving the right amount of nutrition and are gaining weight appropriately.

What other problems can feeding difficulties cause?

Feeding difficulties can cause many other issues to a child's health, for example, a child may become constipated, they may have difficulty sleeping or feeding difficulties may cause lung or respiratory diseases.

Our feeding team are able to identify and advise on any of these issues and can implement strategies to avoid these difficulties causing further problems.

Can you help my child improve the movement of their chewing and swallowing?

Some babies and children may have difficulties with co-ordinating the muscles used for eating, drinking and swallowing. For example some children may have difficulties sucking, chewing or breathing. This may occur in typically developing children as well as those with other medical, neurological, anatomical or physical conditions e.g. cleft lip, cerebral palsy, Down’s syndrome.

Our feeding team will develop strategies to develop these oral-motor movements and to eventually overcome these eating, drinking and swallowing problems.

When should my child be able to eat solid food?

By the time your child is 9-12 months old they should be able to independently eat finger food that is given to them in bite size pieces. At 18 months your child should be able to eat chunky cut food and should begin to develop a matured chewing pattern. If you have any concerns regarding your child's eating, drinking and swallowing development do not hesitate to contact us.

Voice

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The quality of my child's voice does not sound right for their age, is there anything I can do about this?

When the quality of a person's voice is affected this is usually called ‘dysphonia’. It can affect the sound, volume and pitch. Your child's voice may sound weak, strained or hoarse. If this is frustrating the child and is affecting other parts of their lives, our team of speech and language therapists will be able to provide strategies to help your child's vocal quality. If appropriate our speech and language therapists may also offer one to one therapy in order to improve the quality of their voice.

My child is complaining of a painful voice, can SLT for Kids help with this?

A painful voice can be caused by many different things, this can be from shouting to much, to nodules or paralysis to the vocal cords. Any type of trauma to the vocal cords can cause discomfort to the child's voice or affect the quality of their voice. Our speech and language therapists can help with this by providing advice or treatment to your child.

My child has just had surgery to the throat/neck, are you able to provide a service to rehabilitate their voice?

Our speech and language therapists in our voice clinic are able to provide a rehabilitation service for children who have lost their voice partially or totally due to surgery to the neck, head or throat. Our therapists will either provide compensatory strategies to help them communicate or will give advice or treatment to help improve your child's voice.

My 8 year old is talking in a babyish voice, is there anything you can do to make his voice sound more mature?

This can be a common characteristic in some children. Children often learn behaviours from those around them and may be learning to talk in this way from a sibling or someone in school. However, this should not be a concern as your child should grow out of this. If this continues for a prolonged period or if worries grow please do not hesitate to contact us and we will be able to help through advice, strategies or if needed, treatment.

When should my sons voice have broken?

Boys voices change during anytime through puberty. Typically, a boy may experience change to his voice around the age of 12 or 13, however it can happen anywhere between the ages of 10-16. It can sometimes take up to 2 years after the first break in voice for a boy's voice to completely change in pitch and quality. Our speech and language therapists would usually not intervene with vocal changes during puberty until a child was 16-17. If you have any concerns regarding your son's vocal quality after puberty please do not hesitate to contact us and we can discuss how we may be able to help.

Services for education settings

What education settings do you work in?

Our speech and language therapists have expertise in working with children of different ages with different speech, language and communication difficulties. If you think the education setting you work in would benefit from our speech and language therapy services, we can discuss this with the SENCo of the school or education setting.

Will our school have its own therapist?

Each education setting that we work in will be assigned its own personal therapist. They will have dedicated time that they can assign your school. The therapist will be working within the school froma a day a week depending on the caseload and will be available on that day to answer any questions you may have.

Can you provide speech and language therapy training for the teachers?

We can provide training for professionals working within your school including; teachers, teaching assistants and SENCo’s. Our training will target different therapeutic goals dependent on your identified needs. We can target individual disorders and strategies through training sessions or we can provide general training into speech, language and communication disorders. Some of our therapists are qualified in delivering specific training programmes for schools, including Elklan and Talkboost. Training for teachers is highly beneficial for both teachers and children as they will be more skilled in helping the child in the school environment.

What difficulties can you provide therapy for in schools?

We can deal with any concerns you raise about a child's speech, language and communication within your school. We can provide assessment for all of the children you refer and will consider whether therapeutic intervention will be appropriate for them. We can provide therapy for children in schools with:

This is not an exhaustive list and all children will be considered once a concern is raised.

Are you able to provide early intervention in our nursery?

We believe that early intervention is highly beneficial for providing each child with the best outcome possible. When a speech, language and communication problem is identified and helped early, the child has the best outcomes in the future. Therefore, this is a service that we can provide to schools if a concern in a nursery has been raised. We can provide services to nurseries that are part of schools and nurseries that are not part of schools.

What type of intervention can you offer?

We can offer your education setting with intervention on a universal, targeted or specialist level. The universal level of intervention will benefit all children in the setting as we may work on creating communication friendly environments and general staff training and awareness. Our targeted level of intervention will enable us to provide training on general speech, language and communication difficulties that may benefit children across the school. Our specialist level of intervention will involve direct therapy on a one-to-one or group basis with children that require the specialist help of a speech and language therapist.

Services for case managers and solicitors

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Can you provide immediate assessment for children who speech and language difficulties as a result of have an acquired head injury?

Our service has no waiting lists, therefore, we are able to provide an assessment for case managers and solicitors once we have received a clear referral. We will be able to assess the child’s abilities now, identify what their abilities were before the accident and we will be able to identify from the assessment what treatment would be required to reach the goals of the child.

Are you able to write a medico-legal report for one of my clients?

Yes, at SLT for Kids we are able to provide a medico-legal report writing service for both the claimant and defence. They can be written for both speech, language and communication needs and eating, drinking and swallowing difficulties that may have arose from the child’s accident.

Are you able to provide constant intervention for my client that requires speech and language therapy?

Once we have identified the child’s needs after an assessment, we will be able to provide any intervention that is necessary for the child to achieve their goals. All of our intervention is tailored to suit each child and will be delivered within their best interests. We will be able to monitor their progress of the intervention and provide you with information on this in the form of reports and review meetings.

How can I instruct a speech and language therapist?

Written or emailed instruction is required. You can find our contact details here, contact us. Within your instruction you must include:

The capacity of appointment

The services required of SLT for Kids e.g. reports, attendance at meetings or in court, assessment, therapy.

Detailed purpose of the medico-legal report and issues to be addressed.

Deadline for the report and timescale you need it complete.

Relevant health records and other expert reports that would provide the speech and language therapist with useful or important information.

Witness statements.

Particulars of claim and defence.

Relevant court orders.

Schedule of loss.

Other relevant and useful background information.

Those responsible for fees.

Find out more information about how to instruct one of our speech and language therapists for a medico-legal report.

Will you accept any referral from my caseload?

Any child from your caseload that has speech, language, communication, eating, drinking and swallowing needs as a result of an accident will be considered as a referral. We will assess all referrals, and treatment will be provided appropriately and if necessary. We are able to help any difficulties within our remit that arise from a serious accident or injury. All referrals will be considered individually and their goals and needs will be assessed as we would with any referral.

Will you be able to attend multi-agency meetings in regard to my client?

The speech and language therapist assigned to your client will be able to attend multi-agency meetings if required to do so. They will be able to report any of their findings regarding the client’s progress within speech and language therapy keeping within their limits of knowledge and confidentiality. Our speech therapists understand the importance of multi-agency working with any client.

Have questions?

If you have any questions about the services that we provide or the difficulties that we are able to help, do not hesitate to contact us.